Report raises concern over Indiana’s waterways
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indiana has the most miles of impaired waterways for recreation by state according to a report from the Environmental Integrity Project, a nonprofit that advocates for more effective enforcement of environmental law.
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management will classify a waterway as impaired for recreational use if there is a high level of E. coli, a bacteria that can cause illness in humans, or phosphorus, a chemical element that can cause algae blooms.
Christian Freitag is an attorney. She’s also the president and executive director of the Conservation Law Center in Bloomington, Indiana, and a clinical associate professor at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law.
Freitag said water pollution should be something everyone is concerned about in the Hoosier state. “Of all the states in the country, Indiana has the most rivers and stream-miles that are impaired by water pollution” for recreation, Freitag said.
That totals to over 24,000 miles impaired for recreation, or 73% of the over 33,000 miles assessed according to the report.
Indiana was not in the last position for other metrics in the report.
Experts said wastewater runoff comes from multiple sources including city streets, agriculture, faulty septic systems, and other industry pollution.
Gabriel Filippelli is the executive director for the Indiana University Environmental Resilience Institute and a chancellor’s professor for the earth sciences department at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
“Both of those lead to the growth of algae in water systems in rivers and in lakes and in reservoirs,” Filippelli said. “And some of that algae believe it or not can become toxic, it produces these toxic chemicals.”
Poor water quality reduces the quality of life in Indiana.
“That’s a matter of water quality and ultimately that’s a matter of economic development. The good jobs go where the people want to live where they have a high quality of life,” Freitag said. “If they can’t let their kids drink the water or swim in the streams, that’s an impact on your quality of life.”
There are solutions; for example, Indiana could implement buffer zones between farms and waterways to help prevent erosion, Freitag said. “Iowa has a statewide septic inspection rule. Indiana does not. Indiana has prohibited anybody from any of the counties from having a septic inspection regime.”
Filippelli said drinking water across the state is good on average. “There is a bit of a concern for people who live on well water in the rural areas of central Indiana because nobody tests the well water, and we have no idea the quality of the well water.”
Polluted water needs additional attention in treatment facilities to make it safe to drink, which could reflect in higher water bills for consumers.